It’s time to establish a universal draft

Today there are compelling reasons for the United States to establish a universal draft. We need forces large enough to confront urgent military challenges that our overextended military today is inadequate to shoulder.

Our armed services are stretched so thin we cannot deploy sufficient troops desperately needed in Afghanistan to prevent the revival and resurrection of the Taliban and al Qaeda. President Bush announces that we can draw down all of 8,000 troops from Iraq and cannot promise to return any of them home because of our urgent need for them in Afghanistan. Many service members have already endured three and even four tours, and many in the National Guard have had their careers and lives disrupted. It seems we have no place from which to draw troops to meet even current critical objectives, much less the potential requirement demanded by an Iran or other terrible threat.

It is unwise, even foolhardy, to be so poorly prepared.

Because we depend on an all-volunteer military force, it is difficult to recruit even the numbers needed, so educational requirements are lowered and the military accepts those who did not finish high school, and even illegal immigrants and convicted felons.

Under a universal draft more college graduates and people with advanced degrees would serve and handle the multi-billion-dollar equipment that the top brass is so successful in persuading the president and Congress to buy.

A more adequate military force for the world’s leading superpower could be achieved at a far lower personnel cost. There would be no need to spend tens of millions of dollars on recruitment advertising, and salaries would not have to be so high. In the most successful American Army ever, in World War II, draftees were paid $21 a month plus food, shelter and uniforms (adjusted for inflation, the equivalent pay today would be approximately $310 a month) as compared to the current starting basic pay of $1,246 per month.

Ideally, our young people, and each of us, should proudly undertake this service for our country as a sacred obligation and patriotic duty. Isn’t it time we all embraced John Kennedy’s inspiring directive, “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country”?

For the privilege of being a citizen of the greatest country in the world, we consent to pay federal, state and city taxes every year of our working lives. Americans pay about 31 percent of their incomes in taxes. That is almost four months’ pay, from Jan. 1 to almost the end of April, working for our country before we get to keep for ourselves any part of what we earn. That’s every single year — so asking every young person to give two years of his or her life seems eminently fair.

A draft would additionally benefit those who never had a role model, teaching them how to get up on time, get properly dressed and undertake responsibility. Thus, the draft would benefit society, too, by constructively engaging many people between the ages of 18 and 22 when they are most prone to commit crimes.

Conscientious objectors could perform other salutary national service, such as service in hospitals, especially veterans’ hospitals, or as teachers, border guards, National Guard members, airport security guards, auxiliary firefighters or military or state police, nurses, Peace Corps staff, and so on. In this way, neither they nor their parents would need fear for their lives (provided that enough of those drafted were willing to fill roles in active military service).

Finally, the universal draft, if correctly instituted, promotes a sense of fairness by requiring all those eligible to serve, and not just those from that segment of the population that either does not possess the skills to win good jobs in the private sector, or because they are poor and simply need the money.

Fairness is no inconsequential goal. Outrage, anger and outright hostility have developed in the past because wealthy and well-connected people have been able to avoid service even when most needed by our country against a dangerous and belligerent enemy.

Just to provide a perspective, look at our recent and not-so-recent past. Today we have 1.4 million Americans in the military on active duty and 1.1 million more in the reserves. The active military represents less than half of 1 percent of the U.S. population. Including reserves the military still amounts to less than 1 percent. Compare the approximate percentages of the U.S. population that served in the armed forces during previous conflicts and the Iraq war:

• World War I: 3%
• World War II: 12%
• Korean War: 4.4%
• Vietnam War: 4.3%
• Operation Desert Storm: 0.8%
• Iraq war: 0.5%

For further comparison, look at Israel. Although the Jerusalem government does not disclose information on the size of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), which many military analysts feel may be the best in the world, it is estimated that ground forces number 125,000 with an additional 600,000 men and women in the reserves who can be mobilized very quickly.

This represents approximately 2.3 percent of Israel’s non-Arab population, or 13 percent including reserves (who devote 39 days every year). The equivalent in the U.S. would be a military of over 6 million in active service and 30 million including reserves.

Shortsightedly, we have allowed the size of our armed forces to decline dangerously to the point that we cannot fulfill our immediate missions (for example, sending additional forces to Afghanistan and/or sending replacement troops to Iraq so that some of these who have served several tours can be brought home), much less be able to effectively respond to any new military threats. As a consequence, we failed to send anywhere near the 500,000 troops for this Iraqi military campaign that our country was able to send in the successful Desert Storm engagement.

As the “surge” has decisively demonstrated, had we committed a bigger armed force to Iraq we would have significantly shortened the time spent there, with far fewer casualties and a more successful earlier conclusion. Sadly, by being inadequately prepared, we have paid a terrible and unnecessary price for a misguided attempt to get by on the cheap.

As Northwestern University Emeritus Professor Charles Moskos, a military sociologist, proclaimed, “Our country is experiencing what I call ‘patriotism lite’: Nobody’s willing to sacrifice anything. We don’t even have gas rationing. Congress goes to war but won’t send its own children. We don’t have enough troops. We’ve used reservists and the National Guard in an unprecedented manner. I do think we need a draft!”

Let’s all second that motion and, judiciously, finally establish a much-needed universal draft.

Davis, a shareholder in The Hill’s parent company, is an economist, an MBA graduate (with distinction) from Harvard Business School and author of From Hard Knocks to Hot Stocks (William Morrow and Co.) and Making America Work Again (Crown).